distractions

When you start out as a freelance writer, there’s a lot to learn. I know when I got back into freelance writing in 2005, I subscribed to dozens of email newsletters and spent hours every day, reading, watching videos, and attending live events.

But learning how to be a successful freelance writer is a bottomless pit. There’s always more you *could* know that *might* help your freelance writing career.

And often, new writers fall into this pit, and forget to get any clients. They get a creeping learning addiction that stops them from moving forward.

I see these writers leaving loads of comments on the Freelance Writers Den forums, or on LinkedIn’s writer forums, or commenting on every single blog post on popular blogs.

They ask arcane questions like these:

Should I create a mirror site to protect my writer website in case it’s hacked?

What’s the best SEO keyword tool?

Should I do marketing on autopilot with email autoresponders?

What are the best apps for coordinating writing projects with clients?

A year later, these writers sometimes quietly confide to me that they’re flat broke and had to take a day job. They were so busy learning everything about how to be a succcessful, 21st Century freelance writer, they fell victim to analysis-paralysis — and forgot that the top priority is getting clients and generating freelance writing income!

How can you focus, learn what’s essential, and move forward to earn as a freelance writer? Here are my tips:

I used to have the most amazing morning writing sessions. Before blogging and social media happened, that is. Now, as a West coast person, you wake up to an already-full email inbox and a blizzard of blog comments and social…